Sputtering glow discharge

Coburn, J.W., Kay, E. (1971) Plasma diagnostics of an Rf-sputtering glow discharge. Applied Physics Letters, 18, 435-438. 

Use of glow-discharge and the related, but geometrically distinct, hoUow-cathode sources involves plasma-induced sputtering and excitation (93). Such sources are commonly employed as sources of resonance-line emission in atomic absorption spectroscopy. The analyte is vaporized in a flame at 2000—3400 K. Absorption of the plasma source light in the flame indicates the presence and amount of specific elements (86). 

Similar detailed studies of RSFs have been carried out for GDMS, but not for electron-gun electron impact ionization or for SALI. The spread in elemental RSFs for electron-gas SNMS is comparable to that observed for Ar glow-discharge ionization of sputtered neutrals. ... 

Figure 1 Schematic of DC glow-discharge atomization and ionization processes. The sample is the cathode for a DC discharge in 1 Torr Ar. Ions accelerated across the cathode dark space onto the sample sputter surface atoms into the plasma (a). Atoms are ionized in collisions with metastable plasma atoms and with energetic plasma electrons. Atoms sputtered from the sample (cathode) diffuse through the plasma (b). Atoms ionized in the region of the cell exit aperture and passing through are taken into the mass spectrometer for analysis. The largest fraction condenses on the discharge cell (anode) wall.

Sputtered Neutral Mass Spectrometry, Glow-Discharge Mass Spectrometry... 

B. Chapman, Glow Discharge Processes—Sputtering and Plasma Etching. Wiley, New York, 1980. 

As a second example of the application of ion-beam analysis techniques to semiconductors, we take the calibration of IR absorption measurements of the hydrogen content of sputtered amorphous silicon and silicon nitride. In early measurements, the hydrogen content of glow-discharge a-Si H deduced from IR absorption measurements, using ablsinitio calculations of the absorption cross section of the Si—H IR absorption bands, was com-... 

Figure 16 (Street et al., 1986) shows the typical sample structure, consisting of three layers of a-Si H. Results using this technique have been reported for samples grown by the rf glow discharge of silane and by rf sputtering (Shinar et al., 1989). The first layer is hydrogenated amorphous silicon, deposited under conditions that yield high quality films (i.e., deposition temperature of 230°C, low growth rate) and is typically two microns thick. Next a layer of approximately 1000 A is deposited, whereby...

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